🔗 Share this article Marathon Viewing The Latest Holiday Movies: Highlights, Lowlights, and Unexpected Delights. It is the season to slob out on the couch and demolish a packet of holiday pastries in front of a great film, a bad movie, or one that’s so bad it’s good. As always, a selection of latest seasonal stories hopes to be part of our festive viewing—potentially even finding a spot alongside enduring classics like Home Alone, Elf, Love Actually, and Die Hard (we won’t debate it). So, in a noble effort to distinguish the gems from the coal, and to embrace the festive feeling, I marathoned as many new festive movies as possible in a single day. Early Morning: A Very Jonas Christmas Movie Beginning, optimistically, on a good foot. This is the sole 2025 entry on a famous website's list of the best 100 holiday films of all time. The popular band are stranded in the UK after wrapping up their international trek and must make it back for Christmas. Their endeavors are thwarted by an evil Santa, who sings to state they won’t get home until they “rediscover their familial spark.” The repartee between the squabbling siblings is enjoyable even for the non-fan, while fans will undoubtedly pick up on lots of in-jokes as they attempt to get back using all transportation available. It’s a travelogue of mishaps. It’s not legendary, but is great for fans and a positive start to the day. Festive score: 🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄 for Jonas Brothers fans or 🎄🎄🎄 for their family members who are obliged to sit through it. Next: A Star in Panto Famous performer Kiefer Sutherland stars as a Hollywood star cast a pantomime. “A panto-what??” asks Sutherland’s “difficult” and aging star Brad Mack, who has seen better days and whose agent has tricked him into thinking he’s appearing in high-class London stage. His pantomime fellow actors inform him he’s playing Buttons. “Absolutely not,” he retorts. One can imagine their reply. That is, unless you’re ignorant of traditional stage call-and-response. There are some hilarious moments, some heartwarming side stories, and the ensemble is excellent, too. It’s the kind of movie that would be a bit cheesy at another season, but is a great entertainment at Christmas. Christmas tree rating: 🎄🎄🎄🎄 Mid-Morning: Christmas Karma A familiar face appears at the beginning of this film, too, delivering a signature line for the next movie straight. Is this a fresh holiday staple? This time, he’s a musical taxi operator who picks up Mr Sood, the modern take on Mr Scrooge from Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol. Mr Sood is played by an actor from Kunal Nayyar and Christmas Karma is directed by Bend It Like Beckham’s Gurinder Chadha. The familiar story develops as the tight-fisted Mr Sood is visited by the ghosts of Christmas past, present and future, played by Hugh Bonneville, Billy Porter, and Boy George. This Indian Scrooge is at least different from all the others, but sadly he’s not very charismatic and Nayyar’s acting is lifeless—a significant issue when he’s so the focal point. Christmas tree rating: 🎄🎄 Noon: A BBC Special Before lunch for a major broadcaster's original festive film—which stars Guz Khan as a endearingly grumpy man who “doesn’t really do Christmas.” But after he receives an £8,000 Christmas bonus at work, his wife (played by Morgana Robinson) persuades him blowing the money on a vacation to Lapland. There’s just one snag—he finds out there was an error with his bonus, which should have been £800, and he has to devise a plan for how to return the remainder. Pleasant yet unmemorable. Festive score: 🎄🎄 A Classy Netflix Romance This is one of those Christmas films where the tree, fairy lights and snow are in the background—Christmas is the environment of the film rather than its raison d’etre—but it feels cosy and festive all the same. Driven corporate star Sydney (starring Minka Kelly) is sent to a vineyard to negotiate a purchase for a champagne business. On the way, she runs into a man in a literary haven who promises to show her Christmas in Paris. A critic recently claimed this is the finest new Christmas film of the recent era. That’s a bit of a stretch, but it is a Christmas romance with a dash of elegance and gives the necessary heartwarming sensation. The scene with a extended debate about Die Hard is notable too. Festive score: 🎄🎄🎄 3.29pm - Finding Father Christmas Young Chris, played by Lenny Rush, holds onto his belief in Father Christmas, regardless of the efforts of his dad (starring James Buckley) to tell him the truth. The secret is to be discovered, and Chris ventures forth to find it with the assistance of a group of well-known experts and celebrities. It’s gentle but sweet, and perfect viewing while expecting Santa to visit. Holiday verdict: 🎄🎄🎄 4.39pm - Oh. What. Fun. Michelle Pfeiffer is the matriarch of a dysfunctional American family who gather for the holidays—including fellow Oscar nominee Felicity Jones, Chloe Grace Moretz, Jason Schwartzman, and dad Denis Leary. Pfeiffer begins by referencing Christmas classics like National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation, It’s A Wonderful Life and Home Alone, before stating: “They need to make a movie about the real champions of the holidays—moms.” So that’s the premise, but in practice it’s really a jumble of those forerunner films, at least until Pfeiffer’s character finally comes into her own. Festive score: 🎄🎄 6.43pm - A Scottish Christmas Secret The day’s gone downhill, but fortunately here’s a new offering in the crowded field of formulaic, schmaltzy, badly acted—and utterly watchable—seasonal comfort food. It’s a story as old as time: An American woman journeys to a picturesque cold country and ends up stumbling across romance. In this case, Caprice Bourret plays a publisher
It is the season to slob out on the couch and demolish a packet of holiday pastries in front of a great film, a bad movie, or one that’s so bad it’s good. As always, a selection of latest seasonal stories hopes to be part of our festive viewing—potentially even finding a spot alongside enduring classics like Home Alone, Elf, Love Actually, and Die Hard (we won’t debate it). So, in a noble effort to distinguish the gems from the coal, and to embrace the festive feeling, I marathoned as many new festive movies as possible in a single day. Early Morning: A Very Jonas Christmas Movie Beginning, optimistically, on a good foot. This is the sole 2025 entry on a famous website's list of the best 100 holiday films of all time. The popular band are stranded in the UK after wrapping up their international trek and must make it back for Christmas. Their endeavors are thwarted by an evil Santa, who sings to state they won’t get home until they “rediscover their familial spark.” The repartee between the squabbling siblings is enjoyable even for the non-fan, while fans will undoubtedly pick up on lots of in-jokes as they attempt to get back using all transportation available. It’s a travelogue of mishaps. It’s not legendary, but is great for fans and a positive start to the day. Festive score: 🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄 for Jonas Brothers fans or 🎄🎄🎄 for their family members who are obliged to sit through it. Next: A Star in Panto Famous performer Kiefer Sutherland stars as a Hollywood star cast a pantomime. “A panto-what??” asks Sutherland’s “difficult” and aging star Brad Mack, who has seen better days and whose agent has tricked him into thinking he’s appearing in high-class London stage. His pantomime fellow actors inform him he’s playing Buttons. “Absolutely not,” he retorts. One can imagine their reply. That is, unless you’re ignorant of traditional stage call-and-response. There are some hilarious moments, some heartwarming side stories, and the ensemble is excellent, too. It’s the kind of movie that would be a bit cheesy at another season, but is a great entertainment at Christmas. Christmas tree rating: 🎄🎄🎄🎄 Mid-Morning: Christmas Karma A familiar face appears at the beginning of this film, too, delivering a signature line for the next movie straight. Is this a fresh holiday staple? This time, he’s a musical taxi operator who picks up Mr Sood, the modern take on Mr Scrooge from Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol. Mr Sood is played by an actor from Kunal Nayyar and Christmas Karma is directed by Bend It Like Beckham’s Gurinder Chadha. The familiar story develops as the tight-fisted Mr Sood is visited by the ghosts of Christmas past, present and future, played by Hugh Bonneville, Billy Porter, and Boy George. This Indian Scrooge is at least different from all the others, but sadly he’s not very charismatic and Nayyar’s acting is lifeless—a significant issue when he’s so the focal point. Christmas tree rating: 🎄🎄 Noon: A BBC Special Before lunch for a major broadcaster's original festive film—which stars Guz Khan as a endearingly grumpy man who “doesn’t really do Christmas.” But after he receives an £8,000 Christmas bonus at work, his wife (played by Morgana Robinson) persuades him blowing the money on a vacation to Lapland. There’s just one snag—he finds out there was an error with his bonus, which should have been £800, and he has to devise a plan for how to return the remainder. Pleasant yet unmemorable. Festive score: 🎄🎄 A Classy Netflix Romance This is one of those Christmas films where the tree, fairy lights and snow are in the background—Christmas is the environment of the film rather than its raison d’etre—but it feels cosy and festive all the same. Driven corporate star Sydney (starring Minka Kelly) is sent to a vineyard to negotiate a purchase for a champagne business. On the way, she runs into a man in a literary haven who promises to show her Christmas in Paris. A critic recently claimed this is the finest new Christmas film of the recent era. That’s a bit of a stretch, but it is a Christmas romance with a dash of elegance and gives the necessary heartwarming sensation. The scene with a extended debate about Die Hard is notable too. Festive score: 🎄🎄🎄 3.29pm - Finding Father Christmas Young Chris, played by Lenny Rush, holds onto his belief in Father Christmas, regardless of the efforts of his dad (starring James Buckley) to tell him the truth. The secret is to be discovered, and Chris ventures forth to find it with the assistance of a group of well-known experts and celebrities. It’s gentle but sweet, and perfect viewing while expecting Santa to visit. Holiday verdict: 🎄🎄🎄 4.39pm - Oh. What. Fun. Michelle Pfeiffer is the matriarch of a dysfunctional American family who gather for the holidays—including fellow Oscar nominee Felicity Jones, Chloe Grace Moretz, Jason Schwartzman, and dad Denis Leary. Pfeiffer begins by referencing Christmas classics like National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation, It’s A Wonderful Life and Home Alone, before stating: “They need to make a movie about the real champions of the holidays—moms.” So that’s the premise, but in practice it’s really a jumble of those forerunner films, at least until Pfeiffer’s character finally comes into her own. Festive score: 🎄🎄 6.43pm - A Scottish Christmas Secret The day’s gone downhill, but fortunately here’s a new offering in the crowded field of formulaic, schmaltzy, badly acted—and utterly watchable—seasonal comfort food. It’s a story as old as time: An American woman journeys to a picturesque cold country and ends up stumbling across romance. In this case, Caprice Bourret plays a publisher